Greatest Sin | Levi Ackerman x Reader

Punishment

You prepared for the mission alongside the rest of Levi's squad. Your job was strictly for scouting the outside layer of wall Maria and alerting everyone if you were to see any abnormals.

You only needed the horse and the flare guns to signal your other peers, but a part of you wanted to show Captain Levi that you're capable of holding your own.

Disregarding the innocent side of yourself, you strapped on your ODM gear and blended in with the rest of the scouts whom were headed outside of Wall Maria and deeper into titan territory. You felt nervousness overwhelming you the moment you had disobeyed Levi's orders, but there was no going back now.

You grappled onto trees, rapidly gaining momentum and slaloming in between objects. You watched your peers slice the napes of countless titans. You hadn't gotten any titans kills because you weren't allowed near them, but as one was running just below you, you took the chance and sliced its neck.

A smile grew on your face, as you thought about how easy it was, until you ran into a 10 meter abnormal titan that was hiding behind the trees, ready to pounce. You panicked, your breathing started to escalate, your hands were uncontrollably shaking and your palms were beginning to sweat.

You struggled to grapple away, allowing the titan to move closer to you. The only thoughts that were intruding your mind was that you were going to die, as you were just above the titan's reach, but you felt someone jostle you out the way mid-air and you flew into a tree.

You couldn't maintain your balance, so you ended up injuring your leg from trying to catch your fall. You groaned in agony, as you managed to catch the breath you didn't know you were holding.

You saw your friend Marco in the titan's grasp in lieu of you. Your eyes broadened, as you were about to witness someone you cared about get eaten alive. You struggled to stand on your own 2 feet, as your left leg was twinging with pain, but you pulled through.

You used all of the strength within you to gain momentum and you flew into the air. You flipped and spun, avoiding the titan's attempt at catching you with its free arm.
You went for the legs, catching the 10 meter titan off guard and sliced it's neck. The titan's blood blurred your eyesight and the pain in your leg had gotten worse by the minute—causing you to lose momentum and balance.

You were falling.

You felt a sharp grapple, pierce through your clothing and into your skin. You looked up in awe, only to realize Captain Levi was the one who had caught your fall.

He avoided eye contact with you, as he carried your body to the nearest horse, "Hold on to me." He stated, sternly. By the tone of his voice, you could tell he was restraining his temper. You obliged and hugged Levi's muscular body tightly, as you rested your head on his back.

You swiftly felt Levi's body jerk and tense up, but you didn't think anything of it. He motioned the horse to take off and it was nothing, but an oddly silent horse-ride back.

"Can you walk?" Levi questioned, as the both of you arrived at the nearest infirmary.

You bit your bottom lip and looked away, a slight tint spread across your cheeks, "No sir." You mumbled, shyly.

He groaned, as he carried you into the infirmary. He was rough with your body, slamming you onto the bed. He hovered over you with what you thought was the scariest death-stare. You gazed into his eyes for mere seconds, trying to figure out what he was feeling, but you couldn't.

"I just have to ask, are you fucking stupid? Not only did you deliberately disobey my orders, but you endangered yourself and the other scouts, by not doing your damn job." He voiced lividly, pulling the collar of your shirt.

"Sir, I was just trying to help." You spoke, lowering your eyes.

"You were this close to becoming titan fodder and the causalities could've been catastrophic, so your help was not needed." He asserted, belligerently.

"You should at least be proud of me, Levi." You mumbled, blushing profusely.

"It's captain to you, cadet. Proud, you say? This is exactly what I mean when I said it's like babysitting you." He creased his eyebrows, narrowing his eyes to look at you with disgust.

"I don't need you to babysit me." You responded, raising your voice and ultimately gaining the courage to speak up for yourself.

"If it wasn't for me babysitting you, where would you be right now? Oh, right, let me guess, 6 feet under?" He queried, staring at your lips for an answer.

You frowned, "I killed 2 titans and saved Marco's life." You argued back, crossing your arms.

He shook his head, "I've killed twice as many as you. You're not special, Y/n." He replied. Every time he made you feel less of a person, your stomach turned into knots and your animosity for him seemingly intensified.

"Since you want to act like a child, you're going to get treated like one. You're to restrain from any upcoming missions until I fucking say so, got it?" He snapped, reading your facial expressions like a book.

You looked away, avoiding his glares at you. You could tell he really despised you and he loathed the fact that you couldn't keep up with everyone else—and sometimes, you wondered why you got placed on his squad.

"Sometimes, I wonder why in the hell you got placed under my wing. You're just another weak brat I have to worry about." He derided, crossing his arms.

You remained voiceless.

You couldn't help, but to feel witless and utterly useless. You tried so hard to prove yourself yet, you've failed time and time again. Perhaps, Levi was right—maybe you are the weakest link.

You couldn't even count how many times you had imperiled yourself and those who were around you over the years. Even today, you almost got Marco killed, which didn't aid your overthinking one bit.

It proved that Levi was right and you abhorred it. You felt the tears that were emerging in your eyes, slowly run down your cheeks—and it wasn't because you were sad, it was because you were disappointed.

"Look, I didn't mean to yell at you," He stated, speaking to you in a softer tone, as he noticed your glistening tears that were resting on your cheeks. "I can't lose another scout, I've already lost enough in my lifetime."

You looked into Levi's cloudy-grey eyes and for once, you were able to read the sorrowfulness and burdens he carried. You thought that maybe that was the reason he's so vague and sheltered—and why he's such a tough man to crack.

"You won't lose me, Captain." You said, softening your eyes when he looked at you, though you were unsure of that yourself.

"That's not always guaranteed, Y/n. Which is why I want to keep you safe." He replied, breaking the eye contact you both shared.

You nodded and watched, as he exited the infirmary. You gazed up at the ceiling and wondered if that was Levi's way of being vulnerable. Regardless of his retribution towards you, you felt appreciative that he somewhat cared about you.